"I look forward to challenging
President Bush and offering a distinctive choice and different direction
for our domestic, economic and national security policies – a difference
that will lead to a safer, more secure and more prosperous future for all
Americans." --Rep.
Dick Gephardt-Jan. 4, 2003 Statement

Democratic Workhorse "You give us the gavel back and we'll give
you America back!" With these twelve words then-House Minority Leader
Richard A. Gephardt led congressional Democrats into the 2002 mid-term
elections. This marked Gephardt's fourth attempt to "take back the
House" after Republicans, led by Newt Gingrich, swept to control in November
1994, and he put in yeoman work to achieve his goal, holding and attending
countless press conferences and events on prescription drugs and Social
Security, pension reform and the economy and stumping with Democratic candidates
around the country.

However, Tuesday, November 5, 2002 proved to be a long, disappointing
night for Democrats. While most attention focused on the Senate,
where Republicans needed to pick up but one seat to regain control, the
picture on the House side was equally bleak. For months, Democrats
had highlighted the prospects of candidates in districts around the country
whom it hoped would present strong challenges to GOP incumbents.
Martha Fuller Clark in the open New Hampshire First... Dr. Julie
Thomas running against Rep. Jim Leach in the reconfigured Iowa Second...
Now, in seat after seat, most of these challengers went down to defeat,
shutting the door on what proved to be Gephardt's final attempt to claim
the title of Speaker. On Wednesday, Gephardt told his hometown paper,
the St. Louis Post Dispatch, that he would not seek to continue
as minority leader; he issued a formal statement explaining his decision
the next day.

Gephardt issued a statement on January 4, 2003 announcing that he is
establishing a presidential exploratory committee. The nationwide
network of friends and supporters he has built up during his years as Democratic
leader and his strong ties to organized labor will stand Gephardt in good
stead in the presidential race, although some will argue he has been too
long in Washington, and the Democrats' failure to recapture the House may
undercut his prospects more difficult.

Gephardt sometimes notes that his mother wanted him to be a Baptist
minister, but he "really went astray." "I decided that I could do
what she wanted me to do and what I wanted to do in the ministry better
in politics," he states. He started in politics in 1965 as a young
attorney serving as precinct captain in the second precinct of the 14th
Ward in St. Louis, going door to door. He was first elected to office
in 1971, winning a seat on the St. Louis Board of Aldermen, and he went
on to win his seat in Congress in 1976. In 1988 Gephardt ran for
president. He finished first in the Iowa caucuses, but Massachusetts
Gov. Michael Dukakis ultimately prevailed. He thought about a run
in 2000, but ruled it out.

Two thousand and two marked Gephardt's 25th year in Congress, and he
started with a flurry of activity. The day after returning from a
trip to five Middle Eastern countries, January 9-18, he delivered a passionate
speech to the winter meeting of the Democratic National Committee; "Speaker
Gephardt" signs were spread throughout the audience.

On January 24, less than a week before President Bush's State of the
Union address, Gephardt presented an economic address, "The
Long Look Ahead," to the Democratic Leadership Council. Gephardt,
who served as the first chair of the DLC, has known DLC president Al From
for more than 40 years; although the DLC espouses a centrist New Democrat
philosophy, several prominent Democrats of a more liberal persuasion were
in the audience, including AFL-CIO president John Sweeney and erstwhile
Gore campaign manager Donna Brazile.

Gephardt called for an economic growth summit at the White House and
outlined four economic goals: "achieving energy independence2,
improving our education, creating a universal pension system, and deploying
new technologies to help protect our people and grow our economy."
The choice of themes was no doubt influenced by the Enron scandal, which
was in full bloom at the time. Gephardt reiterated the main points
of his DLC speech on January 29, delivering the Democratic response to
President George W. Bush's first State of the Union address.

A month later, Gephardt had one of his few successes in the 107th Congress
as he demonstrated strong leadership on the campaign finance reform bill,
helping to get signatures on the discharge petition needed to force a vote
and uniting Democrats behind the legislation. On February 14, the
House voted 240-189 to pass H.R.2356,
the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. One hundred and ninety
eight of 210 voting Democrats (94 percent) voted for the measure.
Democracy 21 president Fred Wertheimer lauded Gephardt's role in glowing
terms. Speaking as the Senate moved to pass the bill on March 20,
Wertheimer said, "Dick Gephardt is a central reason why the American people
have won today." "He provided heroic leadership here," Wertheimer
stated. "He believed in it. He fought for it. He
really wanted this to happen." Although a number observers argued
that the legislation could harm Democrats, who rely on soft money to a
greater degree, Gephardt cited a need to "get people back into this democracy."
"We've gotta kill off the cynicism and the disbelief and the skepticism
that exists among our people. And this bill will do more than anything
I've seen in my 25 years here to move us in the right direction," he stated.

Throughout the year, Gephardt, along with Senate Majority Leader Tom
Daschle, remained one of the Democratic party's most visible spokesmen.
However, he seemed increasingly frustrated as 2002 progressed. For
example, in a September 26, 2002 joint dugout with Senate Majority Leader
Tom Daschle, Gephardt stated:

"We haven't done anything in the House since we came back in
August. We could have better stayed out in our districts and tried
to maybe help the local economy a little bit at the local level.

"This has been a sad, pathetic performance by this leadership in the
House. They seemingly just want to get out of here, do nothing, address
none of the problems the American people really care about, and act like
they're doing something. It is the worst performance I've ever seen
in my time in the House."

While Gephardt found himself and his party stymied on issue after issue
by the Republican majority, he did find himself in agreement with many
Republicans on one of the central questions of the day, that of the use
of force against Iraq. On October 2, 2002 he appeared with President
Bush and congressional leaders in the Rose Garden to express his support
for the resolution authorizing the use of military force against Iraq,
citing the "need to deal with this threat diplomatically if we can, militarily
if we must."

A week later he took on another controversial issue, the question of
immigration reform. Gephardt backed the Earned Legalization and Family
Unification Act of 2002, which would allow undocumented immigrants who
have been in the United States for five years and worked for two years
to legalize their status.

In the aftermath of November 5, critics and even some friends, said
that Gephardt and Daschle had not presented a clear, consistent Democratic
message. If all those press conferences and events did not add up
to a winning message, however, none faulted the energy and effort that
Gephardt expended in pursuit of the House majority. Now, having fallen
short in that endeavor, the veteran Missouri legislator must decide whether,
as has been widely anticipated, he will take one more shot at the White
House, or whether he will pursue a different direction.

Updated February
19, 2003

Strengths and Weaknesses+ From his years of service
as Democratic leader and his 1988 presidential run, Gephardt knows and
is well known to many, many Democratic activists.+ Gephardt could likely
count on significant labor support.+ When he hits his stride,
Gephardt is one of the best and most impassioned speakers in the Democratic
party.

- Gephardt 's inability to
"take back the House" in four attempts after Republicans gained the majority
in 1994 undercuts his prospects.- Historically, the House
has not proven a good base from which to launch a presidential campaign.- Gephardt's 25-plus years
in the Beltway may be too long in the view of some people.

Jim VandeHei. "A 'Moral'
Mission In Political Final Act: Gephardt Crusades On Health Care." Washington
Post. July 19, 2003. [Eighth of weekly series "The Contenders"].

St. Louis Post-Dispatch's
"The
evolution of Gephardt" series:"Washington Bureau reporters
Bill Lambrecht and Deirdre Shesgreen inspected Gephardt's votes, read his
speeches and conducted more than 50 interviews to gain fresh insight into
his career.""Health care makeovers,
letdowns have marked tenure." July 9, 2003. "Congressman has spent career
at center of tax, budget battles." July 8, 2003."War brought congressman's
policy back to where it started: More hawk, less dove." July 7, 2003."Abortion stance shows wider
shift on social issues." July 5, 2003."The evolution of Richard
Gephardt." July 5, 2003.

Mark Z. Barabak. "Richard
Gephardt: Missouri Congressman, in Second Run at the White House, Says
His Vast Experience and 'Steady Hands' Set Him Apart. Los Angeles
Times. June 8, 2003. [Third of weekly series "The Democratic
Hopefuls"].

Notes1. Even in the Spring of
2002 some in Washington were already starting to think about a post-Gephardt
era. See for example J.P. Cassidy's article in the March 26, 2002
issue of The Hill headlined "Gephardt's succession struggle shaping
up as a vicious contest."

2. This was second major
speech in three days to hit energy themes; Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) delivered
a major energy speech on January 22.

Photo
caption: Minority Leader Dick Gephardt speaks out against the Fast Track
Trade Authority (also know as Trade Promotion Authority) bill, H.R. 3005,
in a Dec. 6, 2001 event in front of the Capitol. The bill passed
the House later that day in a 215-214 vote.